Railway car



Dec. 12, 1933. G, Q GlLPlN ET AL 1,938,587

RAILWAY CAR Original Filed April 8, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 12, 1933.G. G. GILPIN ET AL 1,938,587

RAI LWAY CAR Original Filed April 8, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Cil PatentedDec. 12, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY CAR Originalapplication April 8, 1929, Serial No.

353,494. Divided and 1931.

10 Claims.

The invention relates to railway freight cars and particularly thatclass of equipment known as hopper cars wherein the lower portion of thecar body comprises a plurality of hoppers. These hoppers are disposed onthe opposite sides of the center construction of the car and crossbearers are positioned between adjacent hoppers which are secured to theopposite side walls of the car and also connected to the centerconstruction. Some cars have just one cross bearer, while others have aplurality of cross bearers with hoppers disposed on both sides thereof.

In such types of cars the moisture in the lading, due to rain, meltingsnow, thawing of the material, etc., accumulates adjacent the bottompart of the lading so that that part of the lading in contact with thehoppers, center construction, cross bearers and other associated partsbecomes wet and holds the moisture in contact therewith causingexcessive corrosion when these parts are made cf rolled steel,especially if such rolled steel parts have been deformed by pressing. Itis common practice to use such cars for transporting coal and when moistcoal, particularly coal dust, is allowed to remain in contact with therolled steel parts, the acid formed thereby eats into the steel parts.

Such corrosive and acidic action rapidly eats away the rolled steel andexperience shows that these hoppers and associated parts must frequentlybe replaced, which is expensive, not only from material and labor cost,but also by keeping the car out of service.

An object is to eliminate the cost and delay infabricating the numerouscomponent parts of the present structural steel car parts.

Another object of forming the car part of cast metal is to eliminate thepossibility of loose connections which would permit relative motionbetween the component parts of the car part, as it is common knowledgethat the vibration of the car in motion, due to rough and uneven track,and steel wheels rolling on steel rails, together with longer trains andhigh speeds in present day practice, cause riveted joints and built upsections t-o Work loose and the railroads look with favor upon anydevice which reduces the number of parts and joints as these are theweak parts of the car and the more such weak parts are eliminated, thelonger the life of the car.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross section of a car including my improvement.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the car.

this application July 15,

Serial No. 550,936

(Cl. 10S-249) Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of thecar.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a cross section of a car showing a 60 modification of myimprovement.

In a hopper car of the type described above the load is carried to thebody holsters 2 by the center sills 3 or center construction 4 and theside walls 5. The center construction usually comprises spaced apartcenter sills 3 of rolled steel sections and a rolled steel cover plate6, which sills and Vcover plate extend between the body bolster andusually therebeyond to accommodate the draft gear. The side walls may beof a truss or a girder design. In the form illustrated the top (7) andbottom (8) chords of the side girder are connected by the web plate 9which also is the load retaining means of the side wall. To meetstrength requirements it is preferable to make the top and bottom chordsof rolled steel. In order to save weight and material it is desirable tomake the web plate also of rolled steel.

The construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclu- 80 sive consists of anintegral casting comprising a hopper on each side of the centerconstruction, a center construction hood and part of a cross bearer. Twoof such castings (preferably duplicates) are secured together to formthe complete hopper part of the car, which united castings are thenmerely secured to the center construction and opposite side walls of thecar. Each part of the cross bearer comprises a web plate 13 with theupper stiffener 14 and oppo- 90 sitely disposed sloping lower portions15 which direct the discharging lading into the hopper. The cross beareris arranged to protect the lower side chord 8 and the lower portion ofthe web plate 9 from the lading. The cross bearers strad- 95 dle thecenter construction 4 and are secured thereto in any convenient manner.We also prefer to cast hinge lugs 16 integral with this cross bearer tosupport the hopper door 17. The brace is secured to the side wall andalso to the outer end of the cross bearer 12 and comprises a diagonalmember 18 extending from adjacent the top of the side wall tosubstantially the middle of the cross bearer. It is also provided withan extension 19 connected to the upper chord 'I 105 to brace that memberagainst deflection. The hoppers 20 on opposite sides of the cross bearerare preferably cast integral therewith. 'I'hese hoppers comprise aninclined portion 21 with oppositely disposed substantially uprightportions. The inner (22) of said upright portions is connected to thecenter sill and arranged to protect it from the lading. The outer (23)of said portions is connected to the side wall and arranged to protectthe lower chord (8) from the lading. The integral reinforcing ribs 24extend continuously around the inclined portion and the upright portionsof the hopper. The hopper is also preferably reinforced withvlongitudinally extending integral ribs 25 below the inclined portion.

In the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the center constructioncomprises a pair of rolled steel channels 60 or beams (called centersills) extending between the body bolsters 6l of the car and an uppercover plate 62 secured thereto. The transom or cross bearer 63 is madeof cast metal attached at one end to one of the center sills 60 (or tothe center construction) and its opposite end is secured to the sidewall 64 of the car. 'I'he cross bearer is provided with oppositelydisposed sloping surfaces 65 to direct the discharging lading into thehopper and also has vertically disposed ribs 66 and integral hinge lugs67 are positioned below the sloping portion and adjacent the verticalrib and cast integral therewith providing a very strong hinge lugarrangement. The upper part of the cross bearer is arranged forattachment of the bracing member 68, which arrangement, in the formshown, comprises a ilat substantially horizontal upper surface 69 toaccommodate the T section 70 of the brace so as to obtain two rows ofrivets connecting the two elements. This brace may extend continuouslyfrom side to side of the car or be made of two members secured togetherby a splice plate 71, as shown in Fig. 5. The outer vertical portion '72of the brace is secured to the side wall 64 of the car. This braceresists the tendency of the side wall as a girder to buckle and also incombination with the cross bearer 63 suspends the center constructionfrom the opposite side walls and forms a transverse member of greatereffective depth than the elements 63 or the center sills.

The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred forms of the invention,though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to theexact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious thatvarious modications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occurto persons skilled in the art.

This is a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 353,494,filed April 8, 1929.

We claim:

1. In a railway oar, the combination of a top chord, a bottom chord, aweb plate secured to the top and bottom chords respectively consistingof a lower vertical portion and an upper inclined portion, a crossbearer having a vertically disposed upper element extending transverselyof the car substantially horizontally up to said web plate and connectedto said plate, hopper structure depending from said cross bearer, and abrace secured to said cross bearer element at said plate and at a pointspaced from said plate, said brace also secured to said lower and upperportions oi said plate.

2. In a railway car, the combination of a top chord, a bottom chord, aweb plate secured to the top and bottom chords, respectively'consistingof a lower vertical portion and an upper inwardly inclined portion, across bearer comprising a cast metal device extending normally to saidplate, and a brace secured to said cross bearer away from said plate,said brace also secured to said lower and upper portions of said plateand to said top chord.

3. In a railway car, a center sill structure, a girder-like side wall, across bearer device of cast metal of substantially uniform depth betweensaid sill structure and side wall, hopper structure depending from saidcross bearer, and a brace device of cast metal secured to the upper andlower portions of said wall and to said cross bearer at a point adjacentsaid sill structure.

4. A construction as described in claim 3 in which the hopper structureis cast integrally with the cross bearer.

5. In a railway car, girder-like side walls, a cross bearer device ofcast metal of substantially uniform depth extending between andconnected directly to said side walls, hopper structure depending fromsaid cross bearer, and brace devices of cast metal secured to the top ofsaid cross bearer near the center of the car and to said side walls atpoints adjacent the upper portions of said side walls and at pointsabove the top of said cross bearer.

6. A construction as described in claim 5 in which the hopper structureis cast integrally with the cross bearer.

7. A construction as described in claim 5 which also includes a centersill structure to which the cross bearer is secured.

8. In a hopper car, side walls, center sill structure, transom elementsextending between said center sill structure and said side walls andhaving a depth approximating the depth of said center sill structure,side wall bracing elements extending substantially throughout the heightof said side walls and secured thereto and having lower portions securedto said transoms at points adjacent to said center sill structure, saidtransoms and braces cooperating to form a U-shaped member extending fromside to side of the car and from near the lower portion of said centersill structure to near the upper portion of said side walls.

9. In a railway hopper car, side walls, center sill structure, andbraces for said side walls each having a lower portion extending fromthe respective side wall to said center sill structure and overlying thelatter, said portions being secured together to form a continuous memberextending from side wall to side wall.

10. A car having the structure specied in claim 9 and also includingtransoms on the sides of the center sill structure and extendingtherefrom to the side walls and secured to the braces whereby a crossbearer is formed having an effective depth greater than the depth of thecenter sill structure.

GARTH G. GILPIN. ARTHUR E. SMALIi.

